crylam

Would you like to start a fight, or at least a heated discussion? Would you like to anger half the people in a crowd while mollifying the other 50%? Then talk about politics. Along with religion, there is no way to trigger emotion and passion faster than this subject.  Applying the usual definition, politics are "the activities associated with the governance of a country or other area, especially the debate or conflict among individuals or parties having or hoping to achieve power." Today, in our society, politics is about the conflict,  staking out turf and defending it to the verbal death, or something even more literally. It is usually loaded with sarcasm, fixed belief systems, and distortion of the opposition's position. Can I suggest a different way to think about politics? Can I offer an alternative that allows us to engage instead of enrage ? Can I propose a way forward that may have more positive results? Yes? Then, please think of the subject of politics a...

No, it is not the massive increase in ACA premiums for those who must buy on the individual market. Nor is it the similar increase in deductibles and copays for the health insurance that the 80% of us who get coverage through our jobs must face.  No, it is not the consolidation of the industry, where a handful of companies control our options. Nor, is it the immoral increases in life-saving drug costs. No, it is not the inability of our political "leaders" to arrive at a solution that works for those in need. Heavens, they refuse to even talk with each other, preferring threats and slurs instead. Nor  is it the slow acceptance by most of us that our health is primarily dependent on choices we make in diet, exercise, and lifestyle.  The Number One problem with our health care future is.....uncertainty. Retirement is a period in our lives when we welcome many changes, new opportunities, new directions, a new sense of the possible. We take back control of the clock...

In a little over two weeks America will be choosing a new president, along with senators, representatives, and other government officials.  I think I can say, without contradiction, this has been the most unusual, outrageous, tense election cycle we have experienced. The differences between the two top candidates couldn't be starker. Ten months ago I wrote the following post on what it should take to be president. What are the skills, basic approaches to governance, temperament, and experiences that the next leader of this country should possess? I am rerunning that post again to see if what was said almost a year ago should be modified or changed in any way. Just like the last time, please don't turn this into a rant about either of the candidates running for president. I would hope that this list, along with your comments, can be re-run before the 2020 cycle to help us think through whatever those choices will be. After a post late last year,  Are We Really So Afraid? , a re...